The Zoo

We went to the zoo with Seth's family. There were fourteen of us.

Not even all of the cousins in this picture. Luckily it was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so we pretty much had the run of the place. It was awesome.

Apparently the animals thought so too because they were very active and loud. This guy hung out by the window with us for a while.

The kids loved it.

This guy hung out with us for a while too.

Elephants!

All right, I've run out ideas for captions, so the rest of these, you'll be spared.

I love living close to family and I love that my girls love their cousins. We had a great time!

Five on Friday

1. Tessa and Hailey both insist on giving Seth and I five kisses before bedtime. Right cheek, left cheek, forehead, nose, lips. If they can't do the whole routine in the exact same order, they have to start over. They cannot go to sleep until it has been done. It is (like most things they do) adorable and annoying at the same time.

2. My Christmas shopping is DONE and I am ECSTATIC. I just have to drop off some packages at the Post Office, and then I refuse to set foot in public until the new year. Christmas crowds are my absolute worst nightmare.

3. The building they have been constructing on the road to Tessa's school finally put their sign up and it is ANOTHER Walmart. This now makes FOUR Walmarts, all of which are within 20 minutes driving distance of my house. Four! It's ridiculous and I've been ranting about it all week.

4. Tessa and Hailey have become obsessed with the phrase "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya." Before every nap time, whenever I drop Tessa off at school, when Seth leaves for work, at night when they should be saying goodnight or I love you, instead it's "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya".  (Actually, in truth half the time they say "See ya later, wouldn't want to be ya". They don't quite get the rhyme yet.)

5. Ugh the cold. It's barely dipped into the 40s and 50s and I'm already hating life. I tell Seth every year that I will not be warm again until April. Winter, you are the worst.

I'm not sure what I like more about this picture: Tessa chowing down a handful of french fries or Hailey's big cheesy grin.

A Thanksgiving Post

Better late than never, right?
We spent Thanksgiving with the Winsors, and it was awesome.

There were a total of seven grandchildren running amuck in the house.

Not to mention all the aunts and uncles and grandparents who would read to them whenever they wanted!

Here is T doling out some Vanilla Wafers from the box she stole off the counter. Hailey and Anson were much obliged.

Hannah wore herself out and fell asleep when I tried to read a book to her and it was the best. I wish my girls did this.

We stayed an extra day so Seth could help out with some furniture moving and yardwork. The girls enjoyed "driving" the tractor.

We also had a bonfire.

Which is where I discovered Tessa and I are great at selfies.

So between the eating so much I couldn't move, and the kids having constant entertainment and of course the pie, it was a great Thanksgiving!

Six on Saturday

1. Tessa is learning to write and has mastered Mommy, Daddy, Tessa and Hailey. She has written
these four names on every piece of paper in the house and I am simultaneously proud and irritated.

2. Hailey has recently learned that she can call and talk to people on my phone by pressing certain icons. So far she has succeeded in calling Seth, my Dad, my MIL and my visiting teaching companion. So now I need to learn to not leave my phone sitting around.

3. Tessa decided to color on all the doors, so I made her clean them up. She didn't think that part was as fun.

4. Hailey left her cup of milk out on the table all morning and in the afternoon when she went and finished it off, is when we discovered the fly that had drowned in it.
So. Gross.

5. Tessa keeps telling me about her imaginary brothers. Their names are Zeet and Lit and they talk to her and play with her all the time.

6. Hailey's favorite thing to do lately is say "Do not do it" with a grumpy expression. We all think it's hilarious.

A Giant Halloween Post

So my girls, along with 90% of the rest of the little girl population, went as Elsa and Anna from Frozen.

And I do not care if we were unoriginal because they LOVED it. T basically wore her costume for three days straight.

But not even Frozen costumes can top their love for CANDY.

They got to go trick-or-treating with their cousins in Raleigh and had a blast, even if we did slow them down a bit. I think someone told Tessa to make a scary face here....

We also took the girls out to a pumpkin patch and found pumpkins small enough for the girls to carry themselves.

Although eventually we had to just take Hailey's pumpkin away because she kept throwing it on the ground, and we were afraid it would explode.

The girls painted their little pumpkins and loved it.

I think they turned out pretty well. I painted mine too, since pumpkin guts=gross.

Seth insisted on getting a big pumpkin to carve though, which Hailey happily assisted him with.

We asked T if she'd like to help out and her response was "No. FOREVER NO!" So....yeah. I guess my influential opinions are "ruining her childhood" as Seth puts it.

But I think she still got into the spirit of Halloween, as evidenced by the creepy face she painted on the backside of her pumpkin.

The girls got massive amounts of candy, so Seth and I have been doing our best to help them eat it all. We are excellent parents.

But honestly, I will be glad when it's gone so that I don't have to explain every single morning why they cannot have candy for breakfast.

Happy Halloween!